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Speculation Gen 9 Predictions (Development predictions, New Regions, Version names)

Yeah no, I don't think Pokemon will do anything that even remotely resembles the Soviet Union. That's just asking for a ban in the U.S., which is one of the most profitable regions when it comes to the video-game industry in general.
Why? The US isn't anything close to russophobic (especially compared to what I just mentioned).
Yeah but there’s still some tension regarding Russia’s government, especially with what’s been going on in the world recently. If Gen 9 is going to have another Europe based region, realistically it’ll probably be either Greece, Spain, Norway or Italy.
 
Yeah no, I don't think Pokemon will do anything that even remotely resembles the Soviet Union. That's just asking for a ban in the U.S., which is one of the most profitable regions when it comes to the video-game industry in general.
I don't think a region based upon the Soviet Union would be banned in the US--I don't think I've ever heard of a game being banned for depicting the Soviet Union, heck, there's numerous examples proving otherwise. I mean, just look at Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, published by an American developer.

That being said, I highly, highly doubt there will ever be a Soviet Union region.
 
Yeah no, I don't think Pokemon will do anything that even remotely resembles the Soviet Union. That's just asking for a ban in the U.S., which is one of the most profitable regions when it comes to the video-game industry in general.

I don't think Russia is out of the question for Pokemon, especially since call of duty Black Ops: Coldwar didn't get banned, which literally features the Cold War era Russia. However, China and the Korea's are problematic.
 
I don't think a region based upon the Soviet Union would be banned in the US--I don't think I've ever heard of a game being banned for depicting the Soviet Union, heck, there's numerous examples proving otherwise. I mean, just look at Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, published by an American developer.

That being said, I highly, highly doubt there will ever be a Soviet Union region.

This. I have never seen any kind of product get banned in the U.S. because it depicts the Soviet Union. The U.S. is vehemently against them, but not that much. A Russian Pokemon region could most certainly happen, and it will probably just avoid controversial topics or approach them in a delicate and kid friendly matter (such as having a major theme of the game being about individualism vs. collectivism and having a Ghetsis-esque villain that manipulates the collectivist side to gain power). A region being the location of a controversial event hasn't stopped those regions from appearing in the series, we've already had some already and they just didn't speak about those issues (see: Nagasaki appearing as Slateport City, Pearl Harbor appearing as Hau'oli City Marina). The same thing can happen here.
 
That is practically what my Yugo region prediction ran on. Vague references are made to war, but only because the aftermath is important for plot-related reasons. And if the games do come out there will be memes comparing characters to politicians in the Balkans.

However, nostalgia gone wrong and corruption are extremely universal themes. They could be done anywhere.
 
That is practically what my Yugo region prediction ran on. Vague references are made to war, but only because the aftermath is important for plot-related reasons. And if the games do come out there will be memes comparing characters to politicians in the Balkans.

However, nostalgia gone wrong and corruption are extremely universal themes. They could be done anywhere.

I hate to break this to you if you're not already aware, but I don't think a lot of people outside of Yugoslavia are familiar with their politicians, or Yugoslavia in general. I've never heard any news stories coming out of Yugoslavia on American news, and I've only seen it mentioned in one paragraph in one of my social studies textbooks in middle school. Maybe some Europeans might be slightly more familiar with it than I, but in general I don't think Yugoslavia is particularly well known worldwide and is probably pretty far down the list of real world places to get a Pokemon region. There's about 20 different places at least that would be more likely to get one. I think in general, you'd be more likely to see one of the following:

Australia
Canada
U.S. West Coast (probably just California, although technically Oregon and Washington state are also West Coast)
U.S. Gulf Coast (Florida, Louisiana, Texas)
U.S. Midwest/Great Lakes Area (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin)
Washington, D.C.
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Italy
Spain
Germany
Greece
Scandinavia
Russia
China
Korea
India
Egypt

Those are pretty much the most well known and recognizable locations/cultures around the world, so those would probably get priority.
 
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It was never supposed to be political. That's just an inevitable side-effect given the culture of those countries

I do admit it's low on the popularity list. However, Japanese are quite familiar with the yugosphere as trade partners (Sylph Co. features heavily in the plot). That's kind of what the whole thing hinged on.
 
I don't think Russia is out of the question for Pokemon, especially since call of duty Black Ops: Coldwar didn't get banned, which literally features the Cold War era Russia. However, China and the Korea's are problematic.

China's government probably isn't going to take too much issue with a Pokemon game being set in a region based on their country as long as GameFreak doesn't do something provocative like making the mascot legendaries resemble Winnie the Pooh characters (which they wouldn't ... for copyright reasons).

I think Korea would be more likely to act up since they can be sensitive about how their country is depicted in Japanese fiction.
 
A China Region for Gen 9 won't happen, since China has gotten criticized worldwide for Human Rights Violations in Hong Kong and after Covid, Anti-CCP Sentiment has risen all over the world across the Political Spectrum.

My Personal Wish is for a Region based on Italy/Spain which would be good but I think we will move away from Europe in Gen 9 and the region will either be based off of a Place in the Americas or something like Australia/New Zealand. Canada would be nice but I think the Next Region will be a more Tropical if not a Warm One not a colder one like Galar aka U.K, Canada would be cold too, so not that.
 
This whole america-(western) europe-america thing is a pattern. GF breaks patterns quite often. BW's NY-based Unova came completely out of left field. Why not Russia, Yugosphere, Austrailia, or New Zealand?
 
Realistically, the next region is probably going to be set in a region based on a place in which a lot of Pokémon fans reside. That’s why I expect Australia or Canada to be coming soon.

Which makes Russia more likely than the Yugosphere (and Germany more likely than Russia)
 
Realistically, the next region is probably going to be set in a region based on a place in which a lot of Pokémon fans reside. That’s why I expect Australia or Canada to be coming soon.

Yeah, that is probably a major factor in their decision since it's good for marketing. And those would be the two regions I think are most likely, probably with Australia having a slight edge due to being in a completely different part of the world and having a different climate from Galar.
 
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How about a region based on Russia and former USSR Countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, & Tajikistan
 
Yugosphere, whilst not impossible, I'll admit is unlikely.

Yet again Unova came out of left field.
 
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